1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an apparatus for helping to protect an occupant of a vehicle. In particular, the invention relates to an apparatus including a mechanism for securing, or maintaining in a closed condition, a door for a passenger side air bag.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A known apparatus for helping to protect a front seat passenger of a vehicle includes an inflatable air bag stored in the vehicle instrument panel. The air bag inflates into the vehicle passenger compartment through a deployment opening in the instrument panel. A movable door covers the deployment opening. The door is normally held closed by a tear seam or a latch.
The force that is needed to open the door comes from the air bag. The air bag is initially pressurized beyond the amount needed simply to inflate the bag through the deployment opening. The force of the inflating air bag pushes open the door to enable movement of the air bag through the deployment opening into an inflated condition.
A front seat passenger intended to be protected by the air bag may be out of position, that is, may be positioned too close to the instrument panel. To minimize the amount of force applied to an out of position passenger, it would be desirable to limit the amount of force needed to open the door and, thereby, limit the initial force with which the air bag inflates.
Another known apparatus for helping to protect a front seat passenger of a vehicle is an actuatable knee bolster. A knee bolster is located at a lower portion of a vehicle instrument panel and is movable from a stored position adjacent to the instrument panel to a blocking position spaced apart from the instrument panel, in response to detection of a vehicle crash condition. The knee bolster can help to prevent the vehicle occupant from "submarining" underneath an inflated air bag.